Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida delivered a performance for the ages on February 12, 2026, capturing her second gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in front of a roaring home crowd. Already a national hero after her 3,000m triumph just five days earlier on her 35th birthday, Lollobrigida cemented her place in Olympic history by winning the women’s 5,000m speed skating event in a nail-biting finish that had fans on the edge of their seats until the very last stride.
With the Milano Speed Skating Stadium packed to the rafters and anticipation thick in the air, Lollobrigida lined up for the sixth and final heat of the grueling 5,000m race. The stakes were high: not only was she skating for another gold, but she was also defending her status as reigning world champion in the distance. The Italian crowd, still buzzing from her earlier victory, erupted with every lap, their cheers echoing across the ice as she chased history.
From the start, Lollobrigida set a brisk pace, but midway through the race, it looked like the Dutch contender, Merel Conijn, might snatch the gold. Conijn, skating in the third-to-last heat, had posted a blistering time of 6:46.27, and Norway’s Ragne Wiklund, in the penultimate pairing, threatened to eclipse her with a time of 6:46.34. But Lollobrigida, fueled by the home crowd and her own determination, found another gear in the final laps. Her last lap was clocked at 31.46 seconds—her fastest of the race and enough to vault her into the lead by the slimmest of margins.
When the scoreboard flashed her winning time of 6:46.17, the stadium erupted. She had edged Conijn by just 0.10 seconds and Wiklund by 0.17 seconds in one of the closest finishes the event has ever seen. Belgium’s Sandrine Tas finished fourth, heartbreakingly close at just 0.3 seconds off the gold.
“After the race, I was with my hands on my legs. I wanted to say thanks to the people, but I couldn’t at first. I was dead,” Lollobrigida said, laughing as she recounted the exhaustion and exhilaration of her victory, according to The Athletic. “Having seen the times, I knew I had to get a personal record and the Italian record to beat them,” she told the Associated Press. “I could see out of the corner of my eye that I was green, green (leading), but also knew that the Dutch girl had been really fast in the last few laps, so I had to really give everything at the end.”
The win marks Lollobrigida’s fourth Olympic medal, making her the most decorated Italian speed skater in history. Her journey to this moment has been anything but straightforward. Four years ago in Beijing, she captured silver in the 3,000m and bronze in the mass start, only to narrowly miss the podium in the 5,000m. Since then, she’s become a mother—her son Tommaso was the star of her post-race celebrations after her 3,000m gold—but she returned to competition just six months after giving birth, determined to prove she could balance motherhood and elite sport.
“It’s not that easy to combine being a skater and a mom,” Lollobrigida admitted. “This (medal) is for myself, the people who believed in me, and the people who said, ‘Maybe she can’t do it, you know?’ They gave me the power to prove myself.”
On this historic Thursday, though, Tommaso was at home. Lollobrigida and her husband decided he should attend his nursery school’s carnival party instead of watching his mother skate for gold. After the race, Lollobrigida paused her media duties to connect with her family via video call. Her mother’s words, “You kept your promise,” were a poignant reminder of the personal journey behind the medals. “I promised her to enjoy myself, to get my smile back and to skate without pressure,” said a beaming Lollobrigida, who had struggled with illness earlier in the season.
Her roots run deep in Italy: she hails from Frascati, a hill town near Rome famed for its white wine, and she’s the great-niece of legendary 1950s film star Gina Lollobrigida. But on the ice, she’s every bit the modern champion—resilient, determined, and inspirational.
The 5,000m event itself featured 12 competitors racing in six pairings. At the halfway mark, Marina Zueva led with 6:57.70, but as the race wore on, it became clear that the medals would be decided in the final heats. Conijn’s powerful performance set the bar, and Wiklund’s strong finish had the Norwegian fans dreaming of gold. But it was Lollobrigida, with the crowd behind her and history beckoning, who delivered the defining performance.
The race was also a poignant farewell for Czech legend Martina Sáblíková. The 38-year-old, a three-time Olympic champion with seven medals to her name, was competing in her sixth and final Games. Battling illness, she finished well off the pace but was greeted with a standing ovation and completed an emotional lap of honour. “It was my worst 5,000 in my life but also my best 5,000 because the support from my fans, my family, other athletes, coaches was crazy today,” Sáblíková said to reporters.
Lollobrigida’s achievement is all the more remarkable given the Dutch dominance in women’s speed skating. The arena was awash in orange, with Dutch fans making their presence felt, and Conijn’s emotional reaction after Wiklund’s finish showed just how much the competition meant to all involved. “That was just the moment and I was like, OK, now I’m happy no matter which color it ends up to be,” Conijn said.
For Lollobrigida, who called her birthday gold “the perfect day,” Thursday’s triumph was a close second. As she stood atop the podium, singing along to the Italian national anthem, her bright green nails flashing, it was clear that this was more than just a personal victory—it was a moment of national pride, a testament to perseverance, and a celebration of sport at its very best.
With two golds in Milan, Francesca Lollobrigida has not only thrilled the home crowd but also written a new chapter in Italy’s Olympic story. As the speed skating events continue, the world will be watching to see what she—and her rivals—do next.